Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I need to share with everyone what I have been struggling with on and off for just over two years since my release from prison. I just submitted information for a background check for a job that I would be incredibly suited for, and one which the employer would be very lucky to have me. Not bragging or boasting, just stating the fact that she would be very happy hiring someone who loves pets and would do a great job pet sitting.

The only issue is that I have to go through a background check prior to being hired (as an independent contractor), and I have a felony from 2009. The felony has nothing to do with the position, as far as I am concerned, but I’m pretty sure she won’t see it that way. I could see if I was imprisoned for breaking into people’s houses and stealing things, or property destruction, or any other thing that would truly be a concern when it comes to pet sitting. But that’s not my crime.

So, trying to decide what to do about finding more work. I’ve gone through this process with Uber, Shipt, and numerous other companies, and been rejected each and every time, even though my felony has nothing to do with anything related to the positions I have applied for. People are just completely ignorant when it comes to people post prison.

I can guarantee you that I have been sufficiently punished for my crime, by having to spend 8 years in prison, and continuing to be discriminated against, based on the past. And there is no way to prove myself in a job that I can’t get.

I could have let this most recent potential employer know right up front when she mentioned I had to go through a background check, but we met where there were other people, and I certainly don’t need that overheard. She’ll find out soon enough about the felony, and we’ll see if that is an automatic rejection or not. My concern is mostly for myself, but also for those guys and gals coming out of prison and trying to find work. The job deck is stacked heavily against you from the start, and there is seemingly no way to overcome it.

There is an organization that does help, but they don’t offer their services to those that need the most help; “sex offenders”, so I won’t mention their name here. They think they do great work, but they are not fooling anybody, especially not me. But I have to persevere, even though by definition persevere means to “continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success”. Maybe I should be an expert in perseverance; I sure do have a lot of experience with little or no prospect of success when it comes to finding work.

But my God is bigger than anything that the world can throw at me, so I have to rely on Him to provide for me. And I know He will because He has done it every time, even though every time I still doubt it for some reason.